Let’s tweet about gun control, since we can’t seem to talk about it

This will not be a long post. All I hope to accomplish is to persuade a person or two that today is the time to talk about gun control legislation. We can even tweet about gun control if that is the only way.

Guns scare me. I’m not just talking about the modified automatic-style weapons used in the Las Vegas terrorist attack. Those should scare everyone. I’m also talking about the regular pistols that people carry–legally or not–in their waistbands, hip-mounted gun clips, or any number of other device mean to conceal it. I have never owned a gun or fired fired anything more powerful than an air pistol or a potato gun. And I’m not sure the potato gun was even safe or legal, having been built by hand as I was a child watching in my dad’s garage. I am definitely out of touch on this issue, or at least, unable to speak to it with the same perspective as the approximately 35% of the population that does own guns. So, I recognize my own bias as I speak about this issue.

Kellynane Conway defends the administration’s statement that “now is not the time” to talk or even tweet about gun control.

It’s time to tweet about gun control if we cannot at least discuss it.

But I can’t help but wonder: when is it time to talk about gun control? As I write this post, I am watching CNN interview Presidential Counselor Kellyanne Conway, who is defending the administration’s statement that now is not the time to talk about gun control. The President, a master tweeter, will not even send a single tweet about gun control. Here is what the administration has sad on gun control since the date of the Las Vegas Terrorist Attack:

“‘There’s a time and place for a political debate, but now is the time to unite as a country,’ Sanders said. ‘There’s currently an open and ongoing law enforcement investigation, a motive is yet to be determined and it would be premature for us to discuss policy when we don’t fully know all the facts or what took place last night.'”

The National Rifle Association has chosen not to tweet about gun control following the las Vegas Attack.

And, I do not buy for one second that it is inappropriate to “politicize” this tragedy. We are happy to talk about how we can improve disaster relief in the wake of Hurricane Maria, going so far as to discuss Puerto Rico’s substandard infrastructure and methods to protect itself against future natural disasters. As of this writing, I count no fewer than 32 tweets or retweets by the President regarding Puerto Rico (most of them complaining about #FakeNews). However, I am unable to locate a single tweet about gun control wake of the Las Vegas Attack.